The constant beatings from a distanced and never fulfilled father, the scorn from a mother that didn’t love him. The old wooden house, with its ancient floorboards acting like landmines to his bare feet. The yelled taunts from the old men on the stairs, calling him horrible things. The pain of being utterly alone in a dark room. He’d suffered this for 10 years. He’d never dreamed of a better future, because the mere thought had never taken root in his mind. This dark apartment housing was all he’d ever know.

One day, he’d been sitting in the entrance hall. The hall was a fairly safe place for him; it wasn’t in view of the stairs, and the old creaky floorboards made it easy to hear anyone heavy enough to be his mom and dad coming. The mail slot had opened, and a bundle of letters had come through. He didn’t care about the mail though; what he’d noticed was the light that had come through that tiny slot. Something about that brief bit of light had stirred something in him that made him uneasy.

He thought. He considered. The word came to him, soon after. ‘Promise’. It was a word he didn’t know he knew. The light was a promise: an unspoken vow that had said ‘no more pain.’ He got up, tested the doorknob. Normally, his parents had locked the door every day to prevent him from getting out, but today…today was different. Today was magical to him.

The boy rose up, and gingerly turned the doorknob. There was no resistance.

His world flooded with light, and the pain ended. No one would ever hurt him again. Promise made, promise kept.

-

Dear Dr. Langley,

I am writing this e-mail to inform you of the acquisition of a new subject for use in SCP-204. The last SCP-204-2, Jill, was successfully reintegrated into society at large. (You may be interested in knowing that her sociopathic tendencies have been largely mitigated by the successful removal of 201.) Due to a failure in our 204-2 breeding program, we had no suitable candidate for Containment Protocol 204, and several Agents and Doctors were expressing uneasiness about the future containment of 204.

While it is true that 204 broke containment approximately 17 seconds after Jill’s fourteenth birthday, no causalities were incurred, civilian or otherwise. 204 instead quickly fled to nearby Brooklyn and dispersed over the area in its ‘cloud form’. It then initiated a ‘screening processes – likely searching for a host displaying emotions consistent with SCP-201-2. Interestingly, 201 did not enter any houses, merely choosing instead to linger on the doorsteps of every livable building in the area. This suggests that 204 has an outer limit to its ability to monitor an area physically, something you may want to keep in mind should movement of 204 ever become necessary.
Shortly after the screening process began, our Agents tracking 204 reported a child leaving his house and entering a cloud of 204. 204 immediately seized on the child and indoctrinated him as 204-2; the child fainted, and EMPs were deployed to secure 204. 204-2 was safely transported back to his new home.

You may also be pleased to know of two new D-Class personnel this whole ordeal netted us. The parents of the current 204-2 were interviewed before an amnesiac was administered, and were found to display personalities useful in the containment procedures for 231-7 and in the creation of more possible 204-2 subjects. They were recruited under Protocol 9, and await your approval to be appointed to 231-7 and 204.

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXX presents no threat unless applied directly to a human eye, and so shall be kept in Dr. Langley's office until all relevant tests and studies are completed. All instances of SCP-XXX are to be removed from the previous user after testing has been completed, whereafter they are to be cleaned and returned to their included case.

Description: SCP-XXX is a group of twenty-four (24) contact lenses, designed presumably to correct myopic or hypermetropia vision. When a set of SCP-XXX are applied, they attach to the cornea and become unable to be removed physically by the wearer. Users of SCP-XXX report a immediate blurring of their vision after application, followed by a period of extreme dizziness. When the user recovers, they describe a change in perception. This change seems to worsen with time, and prolonged exposure to the subject will cause a wearer to permanently suffer the noted effects of SCP-XXX even when the item has been removed from the cornea, in addition to affecting the wearer's sense of touch, smell, hearing, and taste.

Personnel exposed to SCP-XXX have reported the following alterations to their vision:

Man-made walls, ceilings, and floors being covered in a substance described similarly to biofilm

The sky being a dark red color, with clouds always appearing to be black

Works of art changing - paintings depict violent scenes from human history, and statues become depictions of unworldly creatures, not identifiable with any known species.

In addition, those affected will react with violent revulsion to other human beings. They will also not respond to any attempt to communicate interpersonally. (Testing has revealed that affected subjects may no longer comprehend spoken language at this point.) Prolonged exposure to SCP-XXX can and has resulted in schizophrenia, PSTD, dissociative identity disorder, and antisocial personality disorder.

Addendum: SCP-XXX was discovered by Dr. ███████, after he ordered a pair of 'x-ray specs' from an back page ad in Issue #█ of █████ █████ Magazine, and instead received a case containing SCP-XXX. The case also contained a page of 'instructions', which are transcribed below.

Hey true believers! Thank you for ordering Marshall Company's AMAZING see through specs! Included within is your purchase, a life-time guarantee, and a phone number to contact us should your friends get jealous and want the same power you've got now! Wondering exactly how your new eyes work, exactly? Simple! Just take one of the included lenses and get 'em reeeeaaaaal good and close to your old peepers. Your new purchase will take over from there! Have fun!!!

*WOW!: Amaze your friends with new ability to see through their lies!
*ZIPPIE!: Show off at school! No teacher can hide anything from you anymore!
*AMAZING!: Discover secrets! Find hidden treasure! Know the unknowable! Anything is possible for you now!

Note: The phone number and guarantee mentioned above were not included in Dr. ███████'s ordered case.

Profile: 'Sabitsuki' is the online handle of a person or entity that has contacted Foundation personnel in the past. 'Sabitsuki' has sent information regarding several SCPs, both undiscovered and already archived, to seemingly random personnel. The subject's messages are nearly always buried in what Dr. Langley refers to as a "impenetrable mound of idiotic jargon", but contain eerily accurate information on Foundation practices, researchers, and currently contained items. Occasionally, an item outside of Foundation control is brought to OS attention by 'Sabitsuki'.

All attempts to trace the subject have led to a condemned house in Nikko, Japan. Public records indicate that no one has lived there since 1944.

Special Containment Procedures: Foundation personnel are to establish a perimeter surrounding SCP-XXX, at least 100 meters from the center of the anomaly. Staff are to immediately terminate any humanoid beings approaching from the center of this perimeter; incendiary or phosphorous ammunition is recommended, provided control is maintained over any resulting fires. Personnel are to be outfitted and equipped with sound dampening equipment at all times. Civilians approaching SCP-XXX are to be first warned by a plainclothes staff member, and then terminated (see addendum) should they persist. In the event of a containment breach, destruction of the immediate area by aircraft delivered explosive has been pre-approved by local and national governmental powers.

Description: SCP-XXX is an anomaly centered in the forest around the █████ ████ area of central Japan. SCP-XXX currently has only one known effect: the constant generation of SCP-XXX-2. Attempts to observe the generation process directly has thus far proved difficult due to the aggressive and populous nature of SCP-XXX-2.

SCP-XXX-2 is a humanoid entity. Variations seem to occur in the height, age, and perceived gender, but the following are present in all instances of SCP-XXX-2:

*The body is covered in black fur; the 'head' of the subject is that of a wolf's

*All subjects wear the same piece of Japanese period dress, a pale blue yukata

*Extensions of bone that exit through the knuckle - these serve as makeshift weapons and function similarly to claws

SCP-XXX-2 are also uniformly violently aggressive, agile, and display incredible endurance - dismemberment does little to discourage them, and several reports of SCP-XXX-2 operating normally after a decapitation have been noted.

Addendum: The area in which SCP-XXX is located is known among locals as being a popular spot for suicides. Foundation personnel on SCP-XXX duty are encouraged to alter the corpses of terminated civilians in such a manner that they have appeared to have ended their own lives.

An artist's depiction of a merchant entity present in the SCP-XXX world.

Item #: SCP-XXX

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: As SCP-XXX presents no threat unless specifically utilized, it is to remain in its associated case, which will be held by Dr. Bern until all relevant tests and studies are completed. Foundation personnel are not to utilize SCP-XXX outside of a testing or studious environment. Before testing, participants are to strip searched and have any currency or items with any conceivable material or personal value removed.

Description: SCP-XXX is a high quality black ink ball point pen manufactured by the ███████ Company. The subject behaves normally when used to write letters in any language; anomalous properties are only observed when the holder uses SCP-XXX to draw a line across the length of any piece of paper. Drawing the line with anything but "straight line" in mind does not activate the effect, seemingly preventing any unconscious use of SCP-XXX.

When the subject is utilized in the above mentioned manner, the effect is activated. The holder of SCP-XXX instantly enters a state of unconsciousness, and cannot be revived until they leave the 'world' created by the subject. While in this unconscious state, test subjects report dreaming of 'a world made entirely of black walls and white lines' - all test subjects have affirmed this statement uniformally. Test subjects assert that they are in a facsimile (though altered to fit the visual aesthetic of the world around them) of their physical body and report no instances of 'dream logic' - that is, they come to no irrational or abnormal conclusions. They also find they have any items on their person that they did in reality, though no electronics function.

The entirety of the dream 'world' appears to consist of a large room in which several merchant stalls are present. The stalls are all manned by a series of humanoid entities, appearing to have the heads of various kinds of wolves that are constantly grinning. A number of items are for sale, including several things that have no physical forms (D-63891 reports that he was offered an original copy of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven", a two handed sword of Celtic make and model, a scaled down plastic model of SCP-███, 'Power', and 'The Love of Those Around Me') The prices for items are varied, but they are always something that the purchaser has the power to pay. Any physical item ordered from SCP-XXX materializes in the hands of the holder upon revival.

A more in depth study of the merchant entities is present in Report A6XXX.

Addendum: Following Incident 90XXX, personnel using SCP-XXX are reminded that attempting to negotiate or 'haggling' with the merchant entities has resulted in a 99% morality rate for the negotiator.

When Langley walked into my office and handed me the tiny rosewood box with a pen inside, I had to suppress a snort. He'd made a very big deal of the item in our conversations, and the clash of my built up mental image with the real McCoy was amusing. He'd painted the thing as some kind of exceedingly dangerous game changer, when in reality it was no more than a simple pen. I knew he believed his own tale, though - there was something in his voice. Something…affected? Is that the correct word? He was withdrawn, and did not seem to be truly present in my office. He had the voice and face of a man who is talking of clockwork when he is thinking of nuclear physics, if that makes any sense. Withdrawn. 'Withdrawn' was the word I was looking for.

He tells me of a strange effect that happens when you draw a line on a piece of paper with the item. I will collect my staff and run some tests later today.

7/17/████

An update on the item I mused over the other day: the object is more interesting then I first gave it credit for. It apparently connects the user to a world of strange mercantile creatures (the staff have taken to calling them 'Grinners', no doubt in reference to their supposed constant facial expression) which offer a variety of physical items, concepts, and something the creatures call 'exceptions'. I could get no word out of the D-Class on the last one, but a few of them managed to purchase a few items that are currently sitting in my office. An old book that looks to be several original Wordsworth poems, several .22 caliber bullets that seem to glow when I hold them, and a miniature figurine of SCP-682. The D-Class would not expound on the prices they paid for these items, muttering something about 'confidentiality'. I will investigate these things later.

7/18/████

Almost all of the D-Class I mentioned in the last entry are dead today. One awoke in the night and strangled the guards in the D-Class Barracks, and did nothing but take their keys. When security staff arrived on scene, the keys had vanished seemingly into thin air - I am told they stripped those barracks bare and did not find them.

Another attempt to breach containment for SCP-███ and free it - she was shot dead by security personnel.

The last of the group didn't die, but instead awoke in the middle of the night to find that his entire left arm, in addition to his right leg, had been messily removed at the joint. Medical tells me the bone looks like it was bitten through by a large animal.

I checked my safe today - most of the bullets I mentioned before are missing. There are only two left.

I think I understand what has happened here, but I can't be sure.

7/20/████

As I suspected. The 'prices' for these items are both grossly inflated and strange. A life for each of these bullets. Keys to every building on the Site for the poems. Apparently an arm and a leg for the figurine.

To find these things out, I had to venture into the strange world myself. The creatures gladly divulged the information to me at the price of one of my fingernails…which they removed on the spot. Bastards. I'm going to Medical for more painkillers. And to think over the other things they offered.

7/21/████

They offered me a way out - a way off this damn Site. And more. Containment methods, cures for damn near every disease, power, money. They offered me my daughter back. When the piece of shit muttered the word "daughter", he saw my face change - and his grin got a little bigger. I saw more teeth in that smile then I ever thought possible in an animal's mouth, and it made me recall the fact that some animals use smiles as a threat. A show of teeth. "This is how I will consume you". That is what a smile says.

They also told me what the 'exceptions' are. Jesus Christ. Immunities. They're immunities to…everything. Death. Love. Aging. They make you a living 'exception' to the laws of reality. But at what cost? I wonder.

I need to go back and talk to them again.

7/23/████

The temptation of being free of this place with my dear Sarah again is too much - it keeps me awake at night. I will pay the price, though it will likely kill me. Either way, I'm getting out of here.

If I hurt anyone, I'm sorry. A man will do desperate things for his dreams.

Dr. Thaddeus was shot to death by security personnel after they found him removing SCP-███ from containment. On his person were SCP-███, SCP-███, and a printed ledger of the personal information of everyone currently in employment at Site ██. The SCP items were returned to containment, and the ledger was burned.

Addendum 2-A: Notable Character Traits

Oicho-Kabu: Akane’s perfectionism borders on the obsessive. She refuses to leave a job half-finished.8-9-3: When in close combat with a bladed weapon, Akane believes in pragmatism. She will always go for the most vulnerable spot in an opponent’s stance and armor.Sweet: Akane can be difficult to work with, but earning her respect or affection isn’t a one time deal. She will follow her admitted superiors and friends into Hell itself.

Addendum 2-B: Notable Character Flaws

Bloodlust: Akane is…difficult to remove from a prolonged combat situation in which blood has been drawn.Agoraphobia: Years of running the tiny Tokyo side streets has caused Akane to fear wide spaces. Anxiety attacks may impede her when there are too many angles of opportunity available to her foes.Sour: Rude, crude, and tattooed, Akane can be difficult to approach or even have a decent conversation with.

Addendum 3-A: Personnel History

Akane learned harsh lessons early on. Born into the infamous Touma yakuza family, her slender frame came in handy porting illegal substances through Tokyo’s tight side streets. She quickly grew used to the feel of a blade in her hand; guns were largely useless in the cramped quarters where she was most at home. At the tender age of 21, Akane had been about to qualify for retirement from the street side of the family. Little did she know, however, that the last package she was delivering was both to an enigmatic foreigner named Carter, and an item of interest to The Foundation…

Rather than waste Akane’s talents as a D-Class, the Foundation took notice of her history and tentatively allowed her a position as a heavily monitored Agent. She took to the position like a fish to a pond – after all, her old job and her new one were not so different. Go here, get that, hurt bad guys. Don’t die. What could be easier?

Addendum 3-B: Miscellaneous

Akane has a very secret fondness for butterflies, often admiring them flying over the courtyard of the Touma family’s country retreat on her brief visits there. No one knows of the tiny case of pinned butterflies she keeps in her equipment safe – and she intends to keep it that way.

Hello. If you’ve got the time, I’d like to tell you a story. Now, don’t get that look on your sweet, soft face. This story is rather good, if I do say so myself. I can’t make promises for the telling – after all, this old man is getting on in his years. But if you’ll take a seat for a while, and actually listen to me, well…who knows? You may learn something. Please, sit down.

Now, I’ll assume an educated individual like you is familiar with the Many-worlds interpretation, yes? A funny old theory that says that every action on the planet creates a breaking point – a point where possibilities slip from view, only to find themselves in the fertile ground of another world. These possibilities go on to lead fulfilling lives in this different world, whereas they might’ve stifled and choked in their originating worlds. The universe as you know it is very similar, if you’ll let me indulge in metaphor for a second, to a dandelion. Every hour, every minute, every second, possibilities are all collectively being blown from the originating point, floating throughout the ether, and taking seed. It’s the difference between a live fire and a misfire. The difference between a dead cat and a live one. The difference between magic and your science.

Now unfortunately, these other worlds are drawn behind a curtain that your kind does not see, nor fully comprehend is present. Thankfully, I was lifting curtains of that nature since before you were a twinkle in Adam’s eye. Shall I tell you what’s behind Door Number One, doctor? Hah. Don’t bother answering. I can tell by the look on your face that you want to know.

Have faith and patience, doctor. And more importantly: listen.

Consider a world where the difference was in human thought. Here, now, we are present in a world where men disparaged and hated the age of myth from the get-go. Let’s call our world the World of Reason. In Reason, mankind has turned against his creators and betters, calling them folktales, nightmares, and yes, gods. You have used Reason’s light to banish the dark from our minds, and you succeeded – at least for awhile.

However…

Mankind is truly incapable of destroying these things. How would you wound a god, or destroy a nightmare? You can explain them away, put them in a meter by meter cell – but they will always find a way out. Myth always finds a way back into the world. All you’ve done in the World of Reason is altered the lock and keyhole, slightly. You’ll find Myth has a great many keys, and a myriad of methods for getting her grimy fingers under the door.. There were forces at play in the universe, doctor, that you cannot even comprehend. Gods, small and tall. Things older and greater then even I.

You’ll find that you have a great number of their aspects on file.

Now, then. Let’s turn to this other world I mentioned.

In this world…let's call it the World of Myth. In this world, mankind has learned its place. It is a world of faith, of subtle belief in things that are greater than man. They believe, and it does not dominate their lives. Humorously, in their belief, they have obtained the world your Foundation so desperately seeks. The primal forces do not seek to enforce and patrol such a world, and as such, that world is devoid of the supernatural. No Keters, no Type Greens, no Genius Loci, no Class Apex Hazards, and no Individuals. It is a world of distilled irony, and my fondness for it increases every day.

Now then, doctor -

Cadwallader, what the hell? Your time with 343 ended almost 30 minutes ago! What are you still doing here? Get out the hell out now, or you’ll be on Langley’s shortlist so fast your fuckin’ head will spin!

…Ah. Do not look at me so sadly. We’ll meet and chat again, eventually. Whether it is at Eden, Site 19, or Meggido does not matter – I’m always ready for your questions, your pleas, and your prayers.